A Blog for Healthcare Consumers

Whole body scanners are fast becoming a common screening tool in airports to detect items hidden by clothing.  One of the key concerns air travelers have is the radiation exposure from these screening scanners. There are two types of scanners currently in use at airports in the U.S.

Millimeter wave (MMW) technology uses low energy radio-frequencies which creates 3-D outlines of the body to reveal items hidden by clothing. MMW can detect both metallic and non-metallic items.

Backscatter machines use low-dose X-rays to create high quality pictures that can reveal items under and in clothing.

According to a recent statement released by the American College of Radiology (www.acr.org) the level of radiation passengers are exposed to is extremely low:

"An airline passenger flying cross-country is exposed to more radiation from the flight than from screening by one of these devices. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) has reported that a traveler would need to experience 100 backscatter scans per year to reach what they classify as a Negligible Individual Dose. The American College of Radiology (ACR) agrees with this conclusion. By these measurements, a traveler would require more than 1,000 such scans in a year to reach the effective dose equal to one standard chest x-ray."

The Health Physics society estimates that a backscatter scan delivers a dose of .005 millirems.  American Science and Engineering Inc, estimates the dose to be .009 millirems. To put these numbers in context, compare radiation doses below from everyday life and common sources:

• Transcontinental flight - 4 mrem
• 2 days in Denver -  1 mrem
• Chest X-ray - 10 mrem
• 1.5 packs of cigarettes per day - 1300 mrem per year
  
• Watching TV - 30 mrem per year
• Airport screening scan - 0.009 mrem per scan

What are your thoughts? Please leave your comments below:

A recent Health Affairs article examined the challenges in determining how high tech medical imaging adds value to our healthcare. The article showed that in the U.S. there has been rapid expansion of the number of Radiology centers which is associated with an increase in use of Radiology imaging such as MRI, CT and PET scans.

MRI data points:

• There are over 7000 imaging centers in the U.S.
• That do 26 million MRI test each year
• At a cost of $18 billion

Although measuring both the tangible cost savings and the intangible benefits is enormously challenging, Radiology touches on nearly every major medical condition, has become an indespensible tool in treatment and diagnosis, accelerating the speed at which doctors can gather information and help them develop precise treatment plans.

Advances in Radiology have also reduced the need for invasive exams. These new Radiology tests are more comfortable, generate less patient anxiety and require shorter recovery times.

For example, CT Angiograms are increasingly replacing the need for catheter angiograms. Catheter angiograms require puncturing a major vessel in the groin area (femoral artery) to inject the contrast/dye. Whereas, during a CT Angiogram the contrast is given through an IV. Virtual colonoscopy, which uses a CT scanner, is being refined to supplant traditional invasive colonoscopy which uses a long tube to examine the colon.

PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans have gained wide spread adoption among oncologists. They stage and monitor treatment of a variety of cancers. PET scans can detect small "islands" of cancer cells that are not picked up by MRI and CT scans.

As Radiology technology advances, we'll see the availability of high tech medical imaging become widespread. The time to diagnose disease will become shorter and treatment plans will be personalized for each patient.

What are your thoughts? Can you think of any other benefits? Please leave your comments below.